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Partitive Articles: Du, de La, de L': 1) The Basic Rules

The document discusses the partitive articles in French - du, de la, de l'. It explains that these articles are used to refer to an uncountable or non-specific quantity of a noun, like some bread, jam, or sugar. Du is used with masculine nouns, de la with feminine nouns, and de l' with nouns starting with a vowel sound. Additionally, the partitive article is always used in French even when "some" is omitted in English. In negative sentences, the partitive articles become de/d'.

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540 views2 pages

Partitive Articles: Du, de La, de L': 1) The Basic Rules

The document discusses the partitive articles in French - du, de la, de l'. It explains that these articles are used to refer to an uncountable or non-specific quantity of a noun, like some bread, jam, or sugar. Du is used with masculine nouns, de la with feminine nouns, and de l' with nouns starting with a vowel sound. Additionally, the partitive article is always used in French even when "some" is omitted in English. In negative sentences, the partitive articles become de/d'.

Uploaded by

ish_200
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Partitive Articles : du, de la, de l’

You’ve learned to use the definite articles ( le, la, l’, les) and the indefinite
articles (un, une, des), but French also has a third type of article : the partitive
article (du, de la, de l’) !

1) The basic rules


The partitive articles are usually used to refer to a part of quantity that can’t
really be counted or quantified but only measured, like a portion of an item,
some food, some drink, a personal quality etc.

Du is used before masculine nouns,  de la is used before feminine nouns and  de
l’  is used before both masculine and feminine nouns starting with a vowel sound
:

Je vais acheter  du  pain,  de la  confiture et  du  sucre ( I’m going to buy (some)
bread, (some) jam and (some) sugar)

Vous prenez  du  sucre Monsieur ? (Do you take some sugar Sir ?)

Tu veux de  l’eau ? ( You want (some) water ?)

Robert a de la patience et du courage ! ( Robert has patience and courage !)

Il faut  de la  curiosité pour être journaliste (Curiosity is necessary to be a


journalist)

Please note that the French partitive article is  always  used in French even when
“some” is omitted in English :  veux-tu  de la  crème dans ton café ? ( Do you
want cream in your coffee ?)

2) Partitive article in the negative sentence


In the negative, the partitive articles become  de/d’  :

Je prends  du  café (I take/drink coffee) -> Je ne prends pas  du   de  café (I don’t
take/drink coffee)

Je veux  du  sucre (I want sugar) -> Je ne veux pas  du   de  sucre (I don’t want
sugar)
Tu manges  de la  viande ? (you eat meat ?) -> Tu ne manges pas  de
la   de  viande (you don’t eat meat ?)

Tu veux  de l’huile d’olive ? (do you want some olive oil ?) -> Je ne veux pas  de
l’   d’huile d’olive (I don’t want olive oil)

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